CHART OF THE DAY: Exploding The Myth Of The Rebounding Consumer

Yesterday fresh personal consumption data came out showing that consumers have completely forgotten the recession, and returned to their freespending ways.

But is the headline masking deeper weakness?

This chart, first put together by Karl Smith at Modeled Behavior, plots personal consumption against retail and food sales. Note that the later, in the blue line, hasn't come back nearly as strongly as the red line.

The answer? Costs of things like healthcare and education continue to push higher. Sales of things people actually want to buy are still well off their highs. (Via Michael Panzner)